World Cup: Beckerman finally gets his chance

Thursday

Jun 12, 2014 at 9:50 PMJun 12, 2014 at 9:58 PM

SAO PAULO — His shirt off post practice with multiple upper-body tattoos on display and dreadlocks as messy as ever, Kyle Beckerman signed autographs through a small space in the fence separating him from a swarm of fans.

The Associated Press

SAO PAULO — His shirt off post practice with multiple upper-body tattoos on display and dreadlocks as messy as ever, Kyle Beckerman signed autographs through a small space in the fence separating him from a swarm of fans.

For Beckerman, being in Brazil is what he planned all along. Ever since the days he began signing his autograph as an unofficial member of the national team around age 8.

Whether leaving a note to his parents letting them know he'd gone to a friend's house and wouldn't be home for dinner or was off to soccer practice, Beckerman always ended with his signature of Kyle Beckerman, followed by "USA No. 15."

Now, at 32, Beckerman is living it for real.

"Yeah, it's come full circle," Beckerman said. "I didn't know. That's what I wanted to happen, but you never know."

Beckerman knows this will all go by far too quickly, because as soon as the Americans are done playing in Brazil he will be back to his job as captain of Major League Soccer's Real Salt Lake.

Midfield mate Brad Davis posted a photo on Twitter of him with Beckerman, who gave a thumbs up as they departed for Brazil while carrying a guitar on his back.

The dreads go way back for Beckerman, whose curly hair would easily knot up if he neglected to comb it as a kid — forcing his mom to pull out the scissors.

Once out of the house, he let it go for good.

Beckerman keeps things light with his music for the Americans.

"Of course, look at his hair, man, a bit of Bob Marley," Davis said Wednesday. "He's a bit of a free spirit."

While Beckerman didn't play in the first of three sendoff matches, he came in for the second half against Turkey and moved into the starting lineup in a defensive role for the finale against Nigeria as coach Jurgen Klinsmann switched up his midfield.

"We've often talked about Kyle, and we keep talking about him because he's a pure giver to that team. He's one that covers other's backs, and that's literally what he's doing," Klinsmann said. "Chemistry-wise, he's an extremely important player to that group, because he has tremendous experience, he's always hungry and you know that when he steps on the field, even if it's a public-training session, that he's going to go 150 percent."

Klinsmann could mix and match, yet it looks like Beckerman might start Monday's World Cup opener against Ghana.